This publication reports on a field investigation that was undertaken along the Dongjiang River in late 2011, and is the third publication in our water resource management series entitled “Liquid Assets”. The purpose was to investigate the ecological and hydrological impact of agricultural and infrastructure developments, mining and industrial relocation in the Dongjiang Basin, and provide policy recommendations for a more sustainable way forward. Download full report

See the companion document, Liquid Assets IIIB: a photographic report of the 2011 Dongjiang expedition, for a graphical account of the consequences to this vital water source for the region. Download full report

We invite you to the Earth System Governance Tokyo Conference, to be held 28-31 January 2013 at the United Nations University Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. This event is part of the global conference series organized by the Earth System Governance Project, a ten-year research programme under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). This conference will be the fourth in a global series organized by the Earth System Governance Project. The Earth System Governance Tokyo Conference will be jointly hosted by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the International Environmental Governance Architecture Research Group and the Tokyo Institute of Technology on behalf of the Earth System Governance Project.

Conference Themes
We invite papers on six interrelated clusters of questions:
1. Earth System Governance Architectures in the 21st Century
2. Climate and Energy Governance Architectures
3. The Nexus between Architecture and the other “A’s” in Earth System Governance
4. Political Dynamics in the Interface of Agency and Architecture
5. Methodological Challenges to Complex Architectures and Multiple Agents
6. Special Conference Stream on Nuclear Safety and Post-disaster Governance

Dr SANGMIN NAM, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation, United NationsMs YUJIA WU, North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation, United Nations Transnational Coalition and Low Carbon City Strategies in China

Dr HAN SHI, Assistant Professor, Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong

Potential and Barriers for Eco-industrial Parks to Serve as a Vanguard of Sustainable Low-carbon Urbanization in China

Dr BO MIAO, Assistant Professor, Department of Asian and International Studies, City University of Hong KongProf GRAEME LANG, Department of Asian and International Studies, City University of Hong KongA tale of Two Eco-cities: Experimentation under Hierarchy in Shanghai and Tianjin

Ms MAI QIANGQING, PhD Candidate, Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong KongUnveiling Collaboration Failure at the Local Level in Chinese Transitioning Environmental State: An Analysis of Dongtan Sustainable City Project

What is the most effective and efficient way to decarbonise a city? There are thousands of low carbon options available and, although they present a significant opportunity to reduce energy bills and carbon foot-prints, there is often a lack of reliable information on their performance. The higher the levels of risk and uncertainty that emerge as a result of this lack of reliable information can be a major barrier to action, making it hard to develop a political, business or social case for investment in low carbon options.

Professor Andy Gouldson will be presenting his work evaluating the cost and effectiveness of a wide range of existing low carbon options that could be applied in households, industry, commerce and transport. The research explores the scope for the deployment of these options at the city-scale, along with the analysis of the associated investment needs, financial returns, carbon savings and implications for the economy and employment.

About the speaker:Andy Gouldson is Professor of Sustainability Research. He has nearly 20 years of experience working on a wide range of issues relating to environmental policy and management. From January 2006 to June 2009 he was Director of the Sustainability Research Institute, at the University of Leeds and he is currently a Director of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

2012 Social Justice and Management Education International Corporate Social Responsibility Forum

Date: 2012/07/02Location: Cardinal Tien Cultural Foundation, located at 4F, No. 22 Xinghai Road, Chung Cheng Dist., Taipei 100Sponsor: The Social Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Taiwan (SEIETW), and the Social Enterprise Research Centre of Fu Jen Catholic University

Date: June 29, 2012 through July 2, 2012
June 29, 2012, from 1 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. (Academic Thesis)
June 30, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (International Forum)
July 1, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (International Forum)
July 2, 2012, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Visits with Enterprises)

Information:The SEIETW will host the 2012 Social Justice and Management Education International Corporate Social Responsibility Forum from June 29, 2012 through July 2, 2012. There will be a academic thesis seminar on Friday, June 29th. Anyone who is interested in the seminar topic, hypothesis, illustrative thesis, or case studies is welcome to attend.

The seminar topic will include the following:
(1) Changing Environment and Social Justice,
(2) Social Innovation and the Disadvantaged Groups,
(3) Social Innovative Industries and Market Management,
(4) CSR and Management Education,
(5) NPO and Social Justice,
(6) Social Justice and Green Technology,
(7) Community Economy and Cultural Innovation,
(8) Community Service and Training,
(9) Religion and Organizational Spirituality, and
(10) Other Relevant Social Justice Topics.

Information:
“Low Carbon Economy” has arrived and industries around the world has followed suit to lower its carbon footprint. Big multinational companies have also required its supply chain and manufacturers to conduct greenhouse gas inspections, inspections of the carbon footprint of products, or disclose the carbon footprint information of the products. Since ISO 14064-1 tests for greenhouse gases, products’ carbon footprint and such disclosure has become an important issue. In addition to the conversion of PAS2050 to ISO 14067 topic, the seminar will also discuss key areas to be aware of during such conversion and to help industries expand from greenhouse gas inspections to products’ carbon footprint, and transition to resource management and development. This will promote CSR in companies with sustainable development as the goal and increase international competitiveness.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Objectives
•To provide a diverse platform for multidisciplinary intellectual exchanges on environmental issues; •To encourage interactions amongst stakeholders; •To increase public awareness of development in the field of environmental innovation.

Description‘Incisive and nuanced, Transnational Environmental Governance significantly advances our understanding of the capacity of certification to influence the environmental behaviour of corporations and consumers. Lars Gulbrandsen’s subtle analysis leaves us with an innovative toolbox to explain when and why voluntary certification programs succeed – or fail – to strengthen environmental governance. It is essential reading for anyone wanting a more accurate way to evaluate the growing number of non-state certification programs.’– Peter Dauvergne, University of British Columbia, Canada

Description

In On Environmental Governance, Oran R. Young examines a variety of efforts to meet the challenge of governing human interaction with the environment in the interest of sustainability. At the same time, he considers measures to minimize restrictions on human actors in using their natural resources. Young looks at issues including climate change, biodiversity, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon cycle disruption in exploring impacts from the local to the global. The book draws on general ideas about the nature of governance while exploring new models for governing human-environment relations.

Energy is a critical issue for the sustainable development of human society.
Using renewable energy resources to replace the traditional ones is one solution
at supply side. Reducing energy use is the other fundamental and more effective
solution at demand side. Buildings are the major consumers. In US, consumption
of buildings accounts for over 40% of overall energy consumption. In Mainland of
China, it accounts for over 30% and will be increased to over 40% within a few
years. In Hong Kong, it accounts for even over 80%.

Due to various causes, energy wastes in buildings are often serious and there
are great potentials of saving energy without scarifying the services and built
environmental quality. In this one day conference, experts and professionals
from Hong Kong and Shanghai will join together to exchange and share their
methodologies, technologies and application experiences for saving energy in
different types of buildings under different climate conditions, including new
buildings and existing buildings, as well as address the building energy saving
from the viewpoints of building technologies and government regulations.

Economic Growth, the Environment and International Relations: The Growth Paradigm
By Stephen J. Purdey

Published 8th May 2012 by Routledge – 192 pages

The ubiquity of the commitment to economic growth, which Purdey refers to as the growth paradigm, is extraordinary. National governments around the world are seized of the same objective. Major international institutions such as the UN, the WTO, the World Bank, IMF and OECD, powerful international organizations such as regional trading blocs and multinational corporations – even civil societies of all kinds enthusiastically pursue a larger economic pie.

This book examines the deep origins and rise to prominence of the commitment to economic growth. It explains why, despite the diversity of regime types, levels of development, cultures and other divisions typical of international relations, all major actors in the modern global polity pursue an identical political priority. Purdey critically examines the growth paradigm highlighting its normative foundations and its environmental impact, especially climate change. Using a neo-Gramscian approach, Purdey re-engages the ‘limits to growth’ controversy, identifying the commitment to growth as a form of utopianism that is as dangerous as it is seductive.

By illuminating and interrogating the history, politics and morality of the growth paradigm, this book shifts the terrain of the limits debate from instrumental to ethical considerations. It will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, international relations, environmental studies and ethics.

Biodiversity Asia 2012 will include important updates on conservation research in Asia in lectures, plenary sessions, symposia and poster sessions by leading scientists and students. Biodiversity Asia 2012 will also contribute to capacity-building in Asia by including practical workshops and short-courses for students and practitioners.

The goal is to have every country in Asia represented, and to showcase the advances made in research and conservation of Asia's rich biodiversity. The conference, in addition to organizing cutting-edge symposiums, will feature skill-building workshops for students. In addition, we plan to have public talks and exhibitions to take the conservation message to the wider public, so together we can work towards reversing biodiversity decline as the world rapidly changes.

The conference is being co-organized by organizations such as Society for Conservation Biology-Asia Section, (SCB-Asia), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and several other institutions with the Secretariat housed at ATREE, Bengaluru, India.

This report summarises the findings from an interview conducted in February 2012. Taking place in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, the interview aims to gather insights relevant to study Hong Kong’s participation in the carbon intensity reduction activities and carbon trading pilots in the Pearl River Delta region.

Civic Exchange collected 165 indices as part of our project to develop a Wellbeing Index for Asian Cities. We studied how these indices are constructed so as to understand how we may eventually design and construct a new index. Having collected and studied these indices, and having prepared a report, we believe publishing what we have collected may also be useful to other researchers. This document contains all the 165 indices we have studied from September 2011 to April 2012. Each one of them is presented in what we hope is an easy to understand summary table.

This report describes the journey led to the creation of the Fair Winds Charter. It also explains the importance of stakeholder engagement in increasing policy understanding and acceptance, the value of data and cross-disciplinary research in air quality and public health for developing a compelling case for policy change; and how the science and stakeholder engagement stimulated regulatory change.Download full report

"International Symposium on Decontamination of Radioactive Materials" will be
held on May 19, 2012 in Fukushima city, aiming to share relevant information
internationally, to enrich citizen's understanding on the related resks, and to
contribute the further development of technologies.

(Sponsored by Kankyo Hoshano
Josen Gakkai, co-hosted by Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan)

Minister of Environment Yoo Young-sook and Greg Combet, Minister for
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australia, are having a bilateral meeting
on 27 and discuss on cooperation plans between the countries against climate
change. The meeting held by Minister Yoo’s invitation is a follow-up after
bilateral meeting during the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17), 2011. Both
Ministers had agreed on the need of active measures for reducing the greenhouse
gases and emission trading which is a cost effective way to reduce the
greenhouse gases based on the market mechanism.

During the meeting, Ministers will share Australia’s experience in
carrying forward the emission trading with fixed price which is planned to be
implemented in July and look for possibilities for cooperation between the
countries’ policies.

Australia is one of the Annex I parties with targets and has adopted
National Greenhouse-gas Emission Report (NGER) in 2007, establishing a system
which Australian corporations measure, report and verify the greenhouse gas
emissions. Possibility of policy cooperation and synergistic effects are
expected as Korea is also planning to implement Green House Gas & Energy
Reduction system, establishing Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV)
system this year and start pushing ahead with the adoption of emission trading
from 2015.

In addition, the two ministries are planning to review holding
regular MRV technical meetings from second half of 2012, agreeing that mutual
acceptance is required on greenhouse gas MRV system for joint greenhouse gas
reduction policy. Also, Minister Yoo is expected to request for Australia’s
cooperation so that a new direction for climate change system can be presented
during the upcoming Pre-COP in Korea, following Kyoto Protocol.

“As Korea and Australia have similarities in environmental field
including emission trading, huge effect is expected from the meeting,” an
official of the Ministry of Environment said.

Hong Kong’s fresh water supply is largely taken for granted. It is plentiful and affordable, and by global standards considered safe to drink. However, recent news of a toxic chemical spill in Xijiang and pollution in the Dongjiang River is a warning to Hong Kong that our water supply depends on the health of a larger hydrological system on the Mainland.

Building on the two reports reviewing the water quality in the Dongjiang and the Pearl River Basin[1] and the risks of industrial relocation in Guangdong[2], Civic Exchange will launch a report and a photographic documentary on the current state of the Dongjiang River. The principle author of the new report, Ms Su LIU (Greater China Manager of Civic Exchange) will introduce her recent visit to the Dongjiang River Basin and explain the implications for water security and sustainable development in Hong Kong. We are also delighted to have Mr YANG Yong (Founder and Chief Scientist of Hengduan Mountain Research Association) to join this event and share his insight.

Ms Su LIU – will introduce her fieldtrip observations and address the problems of urbanization and industrial relocation in Guangdong and its threats to water resources.

Mr YANG yong – will articulate the ecological and geological problems of hydropower development in the Pearl River basin, especially the Dongjiang. He will also address the implications of China’s water diversion plans as well as mega hydro development in the southwest China in relation to Guangdong.

Mr Mike KILBURN –will comment on the interconnection between climate change, drought, Guangdong’s energy market and air pollution in the Pearl River Delta.

Ms Christine LOH – will join all speakers and audiences for a panel discussion session.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

HKIA Pledges to Be the World's Greenest Airport

(HONG KONG, 8 May 2012) - Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) and 40 business partners today pledged to make Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) the world's greenest airport – the first commitment of its kind worldwide. The airport community also announced it achieved a 10% reduction in carbon intensity in 2011, which is on track with its goal pledged in 2010 to lower HKIA's carbon intensity by 25% from 2008 emission levels by 2015.

The airport community has carried out more than 300 green initiatives to achieve the 10% reduction, including installing LEDs, improving chiller systems, introducing more energy-efficient vehicles and launching green educational programmes.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng believes that under the lead of AAHK and with the support of the airport community, the airport could become the world's greenest airport with maximum environmental efficiency.

Environment ministers from China, Japan
and Korea witness the signing of three cooperation agreements: Agreement on
Common Certification Rules of Environmental Labels of China, Japan and Korea,
Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Certification Procedures and Agreement on
Mutual Recognition of Implementation Rules and at the 14th Tripartite
Environment Ministers Meeting.

Community, Environment and Local Governance in Indonesia

Locating the commonweal

This book explores the forces reconfiguring local resource governance in Indonesia since 1998, drawing together original field research undertaken in a decade of dramatic political change. Case studies from across Indonesia’s diverse cultural and ecological landscapes focus on the most significant resource sectors – agriculture, fisheries, forestry, mining and tourism –providing a rare in-depth view of the dynamics shaping social and environmental outcomes in these varied contexts.

Debates surrounding the ‘tragedy of the commons’ and environmental governance have focused on institutional considerations of how to craft resource management arrangements in order to further the policy objectives of economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability. The studies in this volume reveal the complexity of resource security issues affecting local communities and user groups in Indonesia as they engage with wider institutional frameworks in a context driven simultaneously by decentralizing and globalizing forces. Through ground up investigations of how local groups with different cultural backgrounds and resource bases are responding to the greater autonomy afforded by Indonesia’s new political constellation, the authors appraise the prospects for rearticulating governance regimes toward a more equitable and sustainable ’commonweal’.

This volume offers valuable insights into questions of import to scholars as well as policy-makers concerned with decentralized governance and sustainable resource management.

Monday, May 14, 2012

The 2012 International Conference on Energy and Environmental Protection (ICEEP 2012) will take place in Hohhot, China, June 23-24, 2012. A key aspect of this conference is the strong mixture of academia and industry. This allows for the free exchange of ideas and challenges faced by these two key stakeholders and encourage future collaboration between members of these groups.

The objectives are to exchange ideas, present research, debate issues facing sustainable energy as it intersects with the social, environmental, and economic aspects of the global sustainability paradigm.

Call for Papers

The 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Future for Human Security (SUSTAIN) 2012

Clock Tower Centennial Hall, Kyoto University, JAPAN

3-5 November, 2012

The Organization for the Promotion of International Relations (OPIR) Kyoto University, Graduate School Energy Science (ES), Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH), Global Center for Education and Research on Human Security Engineering (HSE), Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) are co-hosting the 3rd SUSTAIN (International Conference on a Sustainable Future for Human Security) 2012 which is organised by the Indonesian Student Association (ISA) Kyoto, Japan.

The emphasis on a sustainable future is in response to the general awareness of the need to solve numerous human-related problems resulting from the rapid growth of modern society. The topic of a sustainable future for human security needs to be discussed in an integrated way, in accordance with the principles of sustainability, considering energy and materials supply, economies and trade, technology, cities, agriculture, social and environmental aspects.

The conference will address problems of primary importance for human security, discussing and proposing a more constructive and progressive approach to ensure future societal sustainability. The meeting will provide a common forum for a wide range of researchers and practitioners specialising in a range of subjects related to the conference themes.

The Centre for Governance and Citizenship (CGC), Social and Policy
Research Unit, and Department of Social Sciences (SSC), of The Hong Kong
Institute of Education (HKIEd), are jointly presenting to you a book launch
seminar, Environmental Policy and Sustainable
Development in China: Hong Kong in Global Contextby Professor
Paul G. HARRIS on 25th May 2012 (Friday), 12:30 p.m. to 2:00
p.m., at Room 12, Podium, Block B3 (B3-P-12), The Hong Kong Institute
of Education, (Tai Po Campus), 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po.

Drawing on practices and theories of sustainability, Environmental
Policy and Sustainable Development in China explores the prospects for
achieving environmentally benign economic and social development in China. Using
the Asian ‘world city’ of Hong Kong as a backdrop and case study, it introduces
major conceptions of sustainability, describes historical and political contexts
for environmental policymaking, and analyses key challenges related to
sustainable development, including air pollution, water quality, waste,
transport and climate change.

The book will be a valuable and unique resource for students,
teachers and readers interested in environmental policy, sustainable development
and ecological governance, especially in China and Hong Kong. Professor HARRIS
will introduce the book’s main aims and content, and use the opportunity to
informally discuss with the audience the prospects for environmentally
sustainable development in Hong Kong.

Paul G. HARRIS is
Senior Centre Research Fellow of CGC, and Chair Professor of Global and
Environmental Studies of SSC, HKIEd.

The Asia-Europe Forum on Methods and Perspectives of Risk Analysis serves as a venue to bring together Asian and European scholars from a range of disciplines to discuss their methods and perspectives, while the forum is also open to participants from other regions and seeks to engage practitioners of risk analysis and management working in public policy, law or business.

The conference will focus on two related sets of issues, under the broad framework of risk-related aspects of large-scale public science-, technology- and engineering-related issues and projects

8-9 November:
We welcome papers concerned with (i) the technical evaluation of risk and strategies to manage it in such areas as water supply and water pollution, air quality and air pollution, large-scale public engineering projects, mass transport systems, the civil use of nuclear power, etc. (ii) the official communication and management of risk, public education, and related issues such as transparency, independent monitoring and evaluation, and levels of public trust and confidence. Papers with a particular focus on risk and disaster management in cities are particularly welcome.

10 November:
The final day of the conference will focus entirely on the risk environment in Hong Kong. Papers are welcomed on all aspects mentioned in the paragraph above, and may also extend to border issues, the role of the media and of non-governmental organizations and independent bodies, agenda setting ‘think-pieces’ and proposals for policy change, codes of practice, or legislative reform. One session will take the form of a round table, with local and international experts. We intend that the whole of the final day will take place in a public setting outside the University (location currently under discussion), and will be jointly hosted by local partners.

We are pleased to offer accommodation and meals for all participants whose papers are accepted for the forum. In addition, the following financial assistance towards participants’ travel costs will also be provided: up to 500 Euros for those travelling from outside East and South East Asia, 200 Euros from within East Asia and South East Asia (excluding mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong), and 100 Euros for those travelling from within mainland China and Taiwan.

Those interested in making a presentation should please send an email with the proposed title, together with an abstract (ca. 200 words) and short bio (ca. 50 words) to the email address below by 15 June, 2012.

Hong Kong Advanced Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Studies, City University of Hong Kong, hkaics@cityu.edu.

Global public goods (GPGs)--the economic term for a broad range of goods and services that benefit everyone, including stable climate, public health, and economic security--pose notable governance challenges. At the national level, public goods are often provided by government, but at the global level there is no established state-like entity to take charge of their provision. The complex nature of many GPGs poses additional problems of coordination, knowledge generation and the formation of citizen preferences. This book considers traditional public economy theory of public goods provision as oversimplified, because it is state centered and fiscally focused. It develops a multidisciplinary look at the challenges of understanding and designing appropriate governance regimes for different types of goods in such areas as the environment, food security, and development assistance.

The chapter authors, all leading scholars in the field, explore the misalignment between existing GPG policies and actors’ incentives and understandings. They analyze the complex impact of incentives, the involvement of stakeholders in collective decision making, and the specific coordination needed for the generation of knowledge. The book shows that governance of GPGs must be democratic, reflexive--emphasizing collective learning processes--and knowledge based in order to be effective.

Business Environment Council is happy to be a supporting organization of the World Cities Summit that is jointly organized by the Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore.Global Challenge

In the 21st century, cities worldwide will become the focal points of economic development, geopolitical competition and collaboration while balancing needs for long-term sustainability. With increasing population demands, cities will also become the centres of human habitat and cultural development.

However the challenges of developing and managing cities will grow increasingly complex. Integrated urban solutions will be needed to create optimised economic, environmental and social outcomes.

About World Cities SummitThe World Cities Summit (WCS) is a biennial summit focusing on cities. It is an exclusive and premier platform for government leaders and industry experts to address liveable and sustainable city challenges, share integrated urban solutions and forge new partnerships. Held in conjunction with Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS), World Cities Summit 2012 is expected to attract around 15,000 government leaders, industry experts and business leaders from around the world.

Abstract Two of UNESCO’s flagship programmes are Education for All (EFA) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The EFA goals set at the turn of the millennium are now being reviewed for a vision beyond 2015, and related discussions focus on the ESD agenda. The EFA and ESD programmes will also provide the core mandate for the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Education at HKU. Members of the HKU Faculty of Education have long focused on dimensions of quality education across cultures and income groups; and Hong Kong as a whole needs to be involved in sustainable development as much as other parts of the world. In the education sector, UNESCO Chairs have been established in 74 of UNESCO’s 195 Member States. This is the first Chair specifically to be framed by the field of Comparative Education. HKU occupies a significant physical and temporal space for such comparative work. Creation of the UNESCO Chair opens a new avenue for collaboration with multiple partners to serve both local and global communities.

Professor Mark Bray, UNESCO Chair in Comparative Education, HKU• Current Director and founding member of the Comparative Education Research Centre at HKU in 1994• Personal Chair of Comparative Education at HKU since 1999• Director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris between 2006 and 2010• President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) between 2004 and 2007